Volunteering is the real spirit of Christmas at Fort Bragg Food Bank

There was a big turkey, tiny and flavorful sweet potatoes, fruit salad, stuffing made from French bread, rich gravy and beets.

The aromas and flavors were Thanksgiving, but the setting was lunch at the Fort Bragg Food Bank. As she has done for the past decade, volunteer Yuki Holand had made a magnificent lunch from leftovers for staff and volunteers.

"Fantastic! The time and effort she puts into meals really shows; you won't get a better lunch," said Christian Martinez, who has been having a blast volunteering for the past several weeks.

"The Food Bank is heavily dependent on volunteers. Over 150 people volunteered their time last year racking up a total of 12,000 hours," said Executive Director Nancy Severy.

All dozen volunteers on hand Monday had praises for Holand, whose lunches were proclaimed the high point of every day for some.

Holand worked in many jobs over many years in Fort Bragg, but was never a chef until she started doing it daily for free. She worked at a local laundry, fish market and the gourmet candy store that once graced downtown Fort Bragg.

Shirley Harbour, a leader in the local Native American community was enjoying Holand's daily fare. She has been coming for 12 years and helps Holand chop and slice for lunch.

She was coming in to get food when someone suggested she try volunteering.

"I have been coming ever since. The people are great here and it's a terrific place to volunteer," Harbour said.

Debbie Wolfe chose the Food Bank to volunteer one day a week a year ago, despite a drive from Albion. She had volunteered at the Alameda County Food Bank before moving here.

"That food bank gave to nonprofits, churches and soup kitchens, not directly to clients. Here we get to work directly with the clients," said Wolfe.

As she savored the lunch, Wolfe said she enjoyed the company of fellow volunteers and the mission just as much.

"This is a place that really helps people," Wolfe said.

One of the most faithful volunteers is Nancy Milano, who was busy all week wrapping presents. She dresses as an elf and gives out presents with Santa all Christmas week.

Nancy is our chief elf every year and does a great job," said Severy.

"Some volunteers only worked a few hours, but some worked as many as 800 hours. Many of our volunteers have been volunteering their time for 10 years or more," she said.

There are several volunteers at lunch who started working off community service sentences.

"Some of our volunteers are community service workers sent to us by the courts/sheriff in lieu of paying fines or going to jail. Many of these workers do a great job and some even return to work after they've done their time. Many times we've had the pleasure of watching community service workers' attitudes morph from sullen to cheerful and helpful over their time at the Food Bank," Severy said.

The week before Christmas and Thanksgiving is always exhausting for volunteers and incredibly hectic for clients. As a result, Christmas is being spread out literally to 12 days of Christmas.

"Instead of having a special day and time just for the holiday food distribution, we're going to stick to our regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday food distribution schedule [seniors 10:45 - 11:15 a.m.; all ages noon to 3 p.m.] through December," said Severy.

"On the following days folks will also get their Christmas turkey or ham and fixin's for a holiday meal in addition to the normal food offering: Monday, Dec. 17, Wednesday, Dec. 19, Friday, Dec. 21, Monday, Dec. 24," said Severy.

So what's for Christmas dinner?

"We'll have turkeys, roaster chickens,frozen salmonand hams this year, and possibly some tofurkeys for vegans and vegetarians," said Severy.

Santa will be at the Food Bank with gifts for children on Monday, Dec. 24 from noon until about 2 p.m.

Pets provide cheer and sometimes chaos every day at the Fort Bragg Food Bank. There are some people at the Fort Bragg Food Bank who have no houses, many who have no car or who drive cars that barely run.

But almost everyone seems to have a companion animal.

These animals are often better cared for than the cars and better fed than the persons themselves.

Homeless men and women very often pair with dogs. These duos are inseparable, making for many very happy dogs, who get to spend all day "camping" with their homeless masters.

The Food Bank provides food for cats and dogs to anyone who needs it.

Locally, the Mendocino Coast Humane Society, the Eileen Hawthorne Fund, Support our Shelter, and Second Chance Rescue are active in helping pets in need. At the Food Bank, Second Chance Rescue gave Christmas presents of Frontline flea and tick treatments, doggie coats, collars and toys last week.

The most popular day every month is when Second Chance provides for Fort Bragg Food Bank's four-legged clients. Long lines of people and dogs stream to the Food Bank; most don't come on other days.

All monies donated to Second Chance are spent to help animals on the Coast, and donations from beyond are brought by Second Chance to help animals here.

"Seeing the needs of the growing number of low-income pet owners living on the coast, Second Chance has broadened its programs to provide not just pet food, but also the flea/tick treatments and help with veterinary bills," Steve Sapontzis said.

Each Frontline Day costs Second Chance about $600, just for that medication, Sapontzis said. Second Chance has also given away at least 300 collars and as many leashes and coats this past year.

"Many of these were donated items we've been collecting for years, but Second Chance has also bought hundreds of collars and leashes to give away. We also bought 100 doggie toys and had many donated," Sapontzis said.

Season of Sharing

Since the 1996 holiday season, the Advocate-News and The Mendocino Beacon have raised roughly $284,000 through the "Season of Sharing fundraiser.

"The Food Bank addresses the most basic problem facing hundreds of individuals and families hunger," said Publisher Sharon DiMauro. " The goal is to give the Food Bank money it can use year-round, not just during the holidays."

Checks should be written out to The Mendocino County Community Foundation (CRMC), who administers the fundraiser free of charge as a courtesy to the newspapers.

Mail them to the Advocate-News at P.O. Box 1188, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 or bring them to the newspaper office, located at 450 N. Franklin St., Fort Bragg, just north of City Hall.

The fundraiser runs through December 31. The names of all donors who contribute through the newspapers will be printed each week, unless they request to remain anonymous. If you have any questions, please call us at 964-5642.

This week's donations come from Helena Bell, David and Laura Welter, Boyd and Mary Kay Hight, Jeanette Hansen, Janice and Stephen Walker, Susanne and Richard Norgard and Barbara Barkovich. The total donations to date are $2,275.